Spooky Season

Well, we are mid way through October, and I have been lucky enough to spend a lot of time in the woods already.

Despite high temperatures last weekend, I was up at camp and in a tree for the morning hunt. I was in the “Graveyard” tree stand (dubbed that as we found a dead carcass near the parking spot last year) I had hung a week prior, in an area I had pictures of a nice buck. A little before 10 AM, I saw a doe a long way off, but quickly lost sight of her through the thick brush.

I headed in for the afternoon to hang out with family that was up at camp from Southern OH. I talked to Dan about a plan for the evening, and we worked one out that sounded good for the hot afternoon.

Then it all went haywire.

I couldn’t find a good tree to climb, and the deer sign was less than I was hoping for. I decided to pack up and head out behind camp where I saw just one small buck for the evening. He did give me quite the show, rubbing his antlers on tree limbs and got me looking forward to my next trip into the woods.

A week later, there I was.

I headed back to camp this past Friday after a stop at the shooting range to sight in my muzzleloader. I had a tough time finding the bullets I usually use and had to sight in the gun for different bullets. It was the start of the October early muzzleloader doe season, and I was hoping to fill the freezer with a good sized PA doe. With Halloween just two weeks out, it is officially “spooky season” and apparently the deer know that too as they were running wild all weekend.

I made it back into the Graveyard Stand about 30 minutes before sunrise Saturday morning. I sat back and took in the brisk morning (when I woke up the thermometer read 28 degrees!) The sun started to rise over the mountains through the trees creating an orange glow behind them, and if I looked straight up I could still see the stars. I have the image pictured in my head and it is still jaw-dropping as I think of it.

Right after shooting light came, I heard what I thought was a buck grunt down in the bottom below me. I shook it off thinking it was just my mind playing tricks but heard it again 30 seconds later. That was definitely a buck grunt. I glassed through the trees but never got eyes on the buck.

It didn’t take long for the cool air to cut into the sweat I had generated on the walk in. I got a chill and opened up some peanut butter I had brought in for breakfast. As soon as I finished eating, I heard crashing through the leaves behind me. I turned quickly but the noise suddenly stopped. I thought it may have been deer, but they must have stopped or went a different direction.

I was looking back downhill and not 10 minutes later I heard the crashing again. This time when I turned around, I saw multiple deer coming right down to me. They were running fast and making a lot of noise. I have no idea what spooked them, but they were moving. I could see the first two were doe, and I grabbed my muzzleloader. They were moving fast through the brush but I finally found the first two in an opening about 40 yards away.

I got them in the scope but could tell they were just yearlings, so I elected to pass. They didn’t stop long before bundling downhill towards the bottom. Just then, for some reason, right after I thought that chance had passed, they circled back toward me. I then realized there was a third doe, and she was much older and bigger.

The stand I was in is a hang-on, so I had nothing to rest my gun on. The deer working broadside in front of me at 90 yards. I pulled the gun up off-hand with my elbow resting on my knee.

I was shaking like a leaf.

“Relax” I told myself. I took 20-30 seconds of deep breaths before looking back through the scope. The large doe walked out from behind a tree, slightly quartering to me, and I finally felt steady enough to shoot. I squeezed the trigger.

Smoke filled the air.

I watched the deer crash through the woods into the bottom, and thought I heard the deer crash. I didn’t want to get to excited too early, and knew that could’ve just been the other deer running through the woods. I waited a few minutes and took a mental picture of where the deer stood when I shot.

I grabbed my re-loaded gun and walked down to the spot. Sure enough, I looked down and immediately saw bright red blood on the ground. I walked back up to grab my pack and began to track the deer. I had a nice bright red trail to follow and I didn’t have to follow it long. About 60 yards from where I shot her, I found the expired doe – and she was a good one.

My entry was right behind the shoulder, but the exit went through part of the stomach as she was quartering toward me. I immediately gutted the doe to get all of the stomach material out of her as quickly as possible. I then took a few minutes to drink my thermos coffee and enjoy the beautiful morning, grateful for the animal I was able to harvest.

I proceeded to de-bone the deer in the field but the action didn’t stop. I had just one shoulder left to process when I looked up and saw a small 8 point walking right toward me. It got to about 40 yards before angling right up toward my tree stand. I watched the deer for about 20 minutes as I finished the processing.

As I loaded the meat in my pack and put it on, I heard a deer blow and looked down into the bottom where I spooked another rack buck. It was quite a morning in the woods. The hike out uphill was tough with a pack full of gear and meat but one that I wouldn’t trade for anything.

As I reflect on the weekend, it was an awesome one. I feel blessed that I was able to harvest such an old mature doe on what was a perfect Saturday morning. As I didn’t harvest any deer last year, I feel some relief knowing that I have some deer meat in the freezer. I am already looking forward to coming weekends with plans to spend a lot of days in the woods with family and friends. Til the the next time from my best season yet!